Live Music at MMAA Patio Nights and the Mill City Museum

Is Thursday is the new Saturday night? Local bands play live music at interesting venues in Minneapolis and St. Paul on Thursday nights this summer.

The Minnesota Museum of American Art in St. Paul holds Patio Nights on their patio high above the Mississippi River. An eclectic selection of local bands play every week until the end of August. Admire the gallery's current exhibit, Crate 1 of 2: Paintings & Sculpture from the Collection including several wonderful bronze sculptures and impressionist paintings, on the way to the patio. If it's raining, the music will be indoors. Tickets are $5-$7.

The Mill City Museum in Minneapolis showcases local bands from genres as diverse as acoustic folk to garage rock to Cuban sounds in the Ruin Courtyard, a spooky yet fascinating place. Mill City Live concerts are the first and third Thursdays of the month until September. All the concerts are free, and are held indoors in case of rain.

More entertainment on Thursday evenings...

• Free Music at Mears Park, St. Paul every Thursday night... and more at parks across the Twin Cities
• Free River Rats Free Water Ski Show, Minneapolis
• Tunes and Tales in the Trees, Free Family Entertainment at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
• More July Events in Minneapolis. St. Paul, and the Twin Cities

_{The Ruin Courtyard of the Mill City Museum. Photo Minnesota Historical Society}